Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The World Bank has said it expected global GDP growth to decelerate markedly from 5.5 percent in 2021 to 4.1 percent in 2022 and 3.2 percent in 2023 as suppressed demand dissipates and fiscal and monetary support unwinds across the planet.
After a strong rebound in 2021, the global economy will face a slowdown as the threat of new Covid-19 variants, rising inflation, global debt, and income inequality will pose hurdles in the recovery, it said on Tuesday.
In its latest report, Global Economic Prospects, the Bank said, “The world economy is simultaneously facing Covid-19, inflation, and policy uncertainty, with government spending and monetary policies remaining in uncharted territory. Rising inequality and security challenges are particularly harmful to develop countries,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.
It will require “concerted international action” and thorough national policy measures to put the global economy back on the growth path, he said.
The Bank kept its forecast for India’s GDP growth for FY22 at 8.3 percent as the recovery is yet to be broad-based. The Washington-based agency has upgraded its India forecast for FY23 and FY24 at 8.7 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.
These projections came after the government’s advance estimates projected India’s GDP growth at 9.2 percent in the current financial year ending March 2022.
The WB also forecast economic growth in the United States, the Euro area, and China and warned that high debt levels, rising income inequality, and new Covid-19 variants threatened the recovery in developing economies.
According to the first advanced estimates of the national income, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) last week, the Indian economy is projected to grow at 9.2 percent in 2021-22, surpassing the pre-Covid level in actual terms, mainly on account of improved performance, especially in the farm, mining, and manufacturing sectors.